Choosing and working with a buyer agent early in the process can be beneficial for finding and acquiring exactly the home you are looking for. Buyer agents not only show you homes, we are there to guide, advocate and prepare you for what to expect throughout the purchase process. I will help fine-tune your search and understand your needs while advising you on the market conditions, pricing, and financing. Once under contract, I will manage your transaction from the financing to inspections and repairs. Lastly, I will prepare you ready for settlement making sure that everything is in line to close.

Mortgage Pre-Approval

Getting your pre-approval before seeing any properties is integral in understanding where you are budget-wise. Just because the lender says you can afford to spend a specific amount, this does not always mean it is what you want to spend each month on a house payment. Get your pre-approval in place.

Let’s Go House Shopping

Now that you have a buyer agent and a full understanding of all the who, what, where and whens of the buying process – It is time to shop! There are times that the perfect home will pop right out, while other times it might take a number of showings to find “the one”. Don’t be discouraged, now that you know what you are looking for you’ll be ready to move on the right house once you find it.

Negotiate the Offer

There are many pieces to an offer. Price tends to be the main demarcation of what makes a strong offer. There are however other parts of an offer that can help improve or diminish the strength of your offer. Your timeline, the seller’s timeline, type of financing, inspections, appraisal, and/or other contingencies will affect what you present. As your buyer agent, I will help you evaluate how to have your offer accepted.

Inspections

Inspections are an opportunity to make sure what you are buying is what you are expecting to buy. This is also the point where you learn about your home. What kind of roof does the home have? How old is it? What is the age of the furnace? Where is my main water shut off? Consider this you and your homes dating stage where you are getting to know each other.

Financing

At this point you have already chosen a lender. You are on the road to homeownership. You will need to provide the lender in a timely manner all the paperwork the lender is requesting. If there is a delay in paperwork submission, this could cause your loan to be delayed and affect your closing. Very important, do not open or close any lines of credit, buy a new car or furniture, charge up your credit cards or make any unusual deposits into your accounts without checking with your lender first. Any of the above could affect your ability to get a loan.

Insurance

Not all insurance companies insure all properties. Through recommendations and/or research you should look for homeowner’s insurance early on in the “under contract” stage of your home purchase. This will help you avoid any hiccups that may negatively affect your ability to close on your scheduled settlement date.

Coordination

I will be coordinating other aspects of the sale to get to settlement. For some sales, there is little to do but to check in with the lender, title company, and sellers (listing agent). Other transactions might entail getting contractor estimates, coordinating repairs, measuring, or speaking to contractors about a post-settlement renovation.

Settlement

This is it! The final walkthrough is scheduled and you have time and place to sign paperwork. You have scheduled painters, movers, and are planning a housewarming party.